Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F42—AMMUNITION; BLASTING
  • F42B—EXPLOSIVE CHARGES, e.g. FOR BLASTING, FIREWORKS, AMMUNITION
  • F42B12/00—Projectiles, missiles or mines characterised by the warhead, the intended effect, or the material
  • F42B12/02—Projectiles, missiles or mines characterised by the warhead, the intended effect, or the material characterised by the warhead or the intended effect
  • F42B12/36—Projectiles, missiles or mines characterised by the warhead, the intended effect, or the material characterised by the warhead or the intended effect for dispensing materials; for producing chemical or physical reaction; for signalling ; for transmitting information
  • F42B12/40—Projectiles, missiles or mines characterised by the warhead, the intended effect, or the material characterised by the warhead or the intended effect for dispensing materials; for producing chemical or physical reaction; for signalling ; for transmitting information of target-marking, i.e. impact-indicating type

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a marker projectile and to the combination of a marker projectile and a cartridge.
• Marker projectiles for use in training or war games are well known and examples of such projectiles are disclosed in US 4,686,905, GB 2 284 252, GB 1 263 522, US 3,528,662, US 4,128,059 and US 3,782,286.
• GB 2 284 252 discloses a projectile comprising a hollow casing having a perforated nose portion, a piston disposed within the casing, and a marking substance disposed forwardiy of the piston.
• the piston is movable forwardiy under force applied to it by gas used to discharge the projectile thereby compressing the marking substance and expelling it through the nose portion which thus becomes coated with the marking substance.
• the marking substance is transferred to the target to mark the target.
• a still further problem with the marker projectile of GB 2 284 252 and other known marker projectiles is that they are unsuitable for small calibre barrels such as the current NATO and US 5.56mm calibre self loading rifle barrels. This is not only because of the problem of radial dispersion of the marking substance referred to above, but also because the complexity of the bullet poses considerable manufacturing difficulties with smaller calibre bullets.
• the marker projectile in that patent specification is characterised by a marker substance being disposed in a hollow chamber with a front opening.
• An expelling member is positioned behind the marker substance with respect to the front opening.
• the configuration of the projectile is such that, on impact with a target, the momentum of the expelling member relative to the hollow body carries the expelling member forwardly towards the impacted target so as to expel the marking substance in a low impact manner.
• marker projectiles are distinguished from known projectiles such as those disclosed in GB 2 284 252 where a piston within the projectile is driven forwardly by the propellant gases in the cartridge or gun to expel the marker substance.
• the expelling member is insulated from the propellant gases; in other words, the propellant gases do not act on the expelling member to force it forwardly to cause expulsion of the marking substance.
• the family of patents derived from the Applicant's own earlier international patent application number PCT/GB03/02344 discloses a solution to improve the spread of a marker substance expelled by a non-lethal, low impact projectile of the type described in PCT/GBOO/00241.
• PCT/GB03/02344 describes a non-lethal marker projectile comprising a hollow body having an opening at the front; a marker substance disposed within the hollow body; and an expelling member within the hollow body behind the marking substance; the hollow body and expelling member being configured such that upon impact of the projectile with a target, the momentum of the expelling member relative to the hollow body carries the expelling member forwardly to expel the marking substance through the opening and characterised by a separator extending at least partly over the front opening, the separator defining two or more spaces through which the marker substance may pass when expelled through the opening.
• the present invention seeks to provide a marker projectile which provides further improved marking over a wide range of temperatures.
• a non-lethal marker projectile comprising a hollow body having an opening at the front; a marker substance disposed within the hollow body; and an expelling member within the hollow body behind the marking substance; the hollow body and expelling member being configured such that upon impact of the projectile with a target, the momentum of the expelling member relative to the hollow body carries the expelling member forwardly to expel the marking substance through the opening, a separator extending at least partly over the front opening, the separator defining two or more spaces through which the marker substance may pass when expelled through the opening and characterised by a deformable closing member positioned between the marking substance and the separator, the closing member configure to deform under the impact of the travelling expelling member whereby to release the marking substance from the hollow body.
• the inventor has found that, whilst introducing greater liquidity into the marker substance can result in more prominent marking of the target and permit effective marking in a wider range of temperatures than is presently achievable with marker substances currently in use, to do this results in problems during shipment and in the projectile's transit through the weapon. In these circumstances, more liquid substances are prone to leak creating a mess but also leaving insufficient marker substance in the projectile to provide a prominent mark on the target when the weapon is fired.
• the problem is solved by the introduction of a deformable closing member which is able to contain the marker substance during transit, but which, under the load of a fired projectile, deforms releasing the marker substance to provide a mark much as in the prior art.
• the introduction of the closing member makes it practical to use more liquid marker substances which extend the range of temperatures in which the marker projectile can properly function and which splay further on impact with a target to provide a more prominent mark.
• the deformable closing member comprises a disc having a diameter substantially the same as the outside diameter of the hollow body, and is positioned over the end of the hollow body and is held in position by the separator.
• the expelling member impacts on the disc, the disc deforms into a domed shape and so acquires a smaller outside diameter allowing it to travel forward towards the separator providing an annular passage through which the marking substance is able to pass.
• the disc comprises a deformable plastic material.
• the deformable plastic material has a thickness of from about 0.001 to 0.006 inches (approximately 0.025 to 0.15 mm).
• the disc embodiment provides a very simple, cheap and easy to implement embodiment
• other embodiments will no doubt occur to a skilled addressee.
• such embodiments might include a domed, conical or truncated conical member, flat star shaped or polygonal members.
• the disc embodiment is proposed to be positioned between the hollow body and the separator, the disc or other embodiments of closing member may be retained in position by other means, for example, they might be configured to fit into the end of the hollow body or be retained by some form of retaining groove or protruding means provided on the inner facing surface of the hollow body or separator.
• the separator may conveniently be provided in the form of a cap which is secured to an outer wall or edge of the hollow body adjacent the front opening. Desirably, such a cap is secured in such a way that the aerodynamic properties of the projectile are not significantly compromised.
• the separator conveniently comprises one or more arms extending between the periphery of the front opening and the centre of the front opening. Optionally, the arms extend symmetrically from the centre to the periphery of the opening. Preferably, there are between two and four arms, desirably, there are three arms.
• the separator has a domed configuration, the peak of the dome sitting in substantial alignment with the centre of the front opening.
• a collar at the end of the hollow body adjacent the opening is provided with a peripheral protrusion, such as an angled flange, over which a complementary inner surface of the separator may be snap fit into position.
• Alternative means for securing the separator to the hollow body will not doubt occur to the skilled addressee and may, without limitation, include; providing complementary screw threads so that the separator can be screwed into position on the body, press fitting, spot welding, gluing or clipping.
• the separator causes the marker substance, when propelled by the expelling member to be separated by a barrier (such as an arm) provided by the separator and to be expelled through the available spaces between elements of the barrier. This causes spreading of the marker substance over the target area, in a manner similar to water flowing through a sprinkler head, the mark on the target becoming more visible from a distance.
• the hollow body comprises a sleeve having a core body portion secured within a rear end thereof, the inner wall of the sleeve and a forwardly facing surface of the core body portion defining a chamber within which the marking substance and expelling member are disposed.
• the sleeve typically has a cylindrical form, a spigot portion of the core body member being received (preferably non- slidably) within the rear end of the sleeve.
• the sleeve is preferably formed from a material having a greater density than the material from which the core body portion is formed.
• the sleeve can be formed from a metal material such as aluminium and the core body portion can be formed from a plastics material.
• the hollow body is provided with means for centring the expelling member therein during flight of the projectile.
• the centring means can be a recess in a forwardly facing surface within the interior of the hollow body.
• the centring means can comprise a recess in the forwardly facing surface of the core body portion.
• the recess constituting the centring means can be conical, frustoconical, hemispherical or part hemispherical, for example.
• the expelling member can take a variety of shapes provided that it is rotationally symmetrical about its longitudinal axis. Preferably, it is of a spherical shape and more preferably it is a solid sphere.
• the expelling member is typically formed from a material having a greater density than the material(s) from which the hollow body is formed.
• the expelling member can be formed from steel.
• the projectile comprises a sleeve and core body portion
• the expelling member has a greater density than the sleeve and the core body portion. It will appreciated also that, typically, the expelling member will have a density greater than the density of the marking substance.
• the expelling member In order to ensure that the expelling member can be carried forwardly by its own momentum within the hollow body upon impact with a target without its motion being retarded by frictional engagement with an inner surface of the hollow body, there is preferably a radial clearance between the centred expelling member and the inner wall of the hollow body (e.g. sleeve) sleeve.
• the motivating force urging the expelling member forwardly against the marking substance is the expelling member's own momentum.
• means are typically provided for preventing forward movement of the core body portion in the manner of a piston relative to the sleeve.
• Such means can take the form of an abutment surface, for example an abutment flange, on the core body portion which rests against a rearwardly facing surface of the sleeve.
• the present invention also contemplates the combination of a cartridge and a marker projectile as hereinbefore defined.
• Figure 1 shows an end view of one embodiment a projectile of the invention
• Figure 2 shows a longitudinal section (A-A) through the embodiment of Figure 1 before the expelling member is caused to travel;
• Figure 3 shows a longitudinal section (A-A) through the embodiment of Figure 1 after the expelling member has travelled.
• a separator 1 sits at the front end of a marker projectile and is secured to an open end of a hollow body (shown in Figures 2 and 3).
• a circular disc 2 Immediately behind the separator 1 is a circular disc 2 comprised of a thin circular sheet of deformable plastic.
• the disc 2 is sandwiched between the separator 1 and an open end of a hollow body 4. Carried in the hollow body 4 is a supply of marking fluid 3 behind which sits an expelling member in the form of a ball bearing 5.
• Figure 3 shows the changes that occur after the projectile is fired.
• the projectile ceases to travel, however, momentum causes the expelling member 5 still to move forward within the chamber of the hollow member 4 and forces the marker substance 3 against the disc 2.
• the disk, 2 is caused to deform and slips out of its sandwiched position between the separator 1 and body 4.
• the marker substance 3 is consequently allowed to escape the hollow body travel forward and disperse to mark the target.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Toys (AREA)
• Aiming, Guidance, Guns With A Light Source, Armor, Camouflage, And Targets (AREA)
• Refuge Islands, Traffic Blockers, Or Guard Fence (AREA)

Priority Applications (6)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

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Family Applications (1)

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Citations (10)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2011
  • 2011-02-02 GB GB1101809.0A patent/GB2487749B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2012
  • 2012-02-02 CA CA2823084A patent/CA2823084C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-02-02 US US13/982,655 patent/US9261338B2/en active Active
  • 2012-02-02 AU AU2012213249A patent/AU2012213249A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-02-02 WO PCT/GB2012/000111 patent/WO2012104590A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2012-02-02 DK DK12706291.7T patent/DK2671043T3/en active
  • 2012-02-02 PL PL12706291T patent/PL2671043T3/pl unknown
  • 2012-02-02 EP EP12706291.7A patent/EP2671043B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2012-02-21 SA SA112330292A patent/SA112330292B1/ar unknown

Patent Citations (10)

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